1、 Kittens have special nutritional needs
The growth of kittens goes through two periods, first a very fast growth period, and then a sexual maturity period. In these two periods, proper nutrition is needed to make the kitten grow into a healthy and strong adult cat.
2、 Rapid growth period: 2-month-old to 6-month-old
After weaning, the kitten enters a fast growth period, which lasts until the kitten reaches the age of 6 months. During this period, kittens need high-quality food with balanced nutrition and high protein and calories to supply various nutrients and energy needed for rapid growth. In terms of the energy required per unit weight, young cats need twice as much energy as adult cats during the rapid growth period; But kittens have small mouths, small teeth and small stomachs, so they can't eat and digest enough food in one meal. Therefore, kittens from weaning to six months old must eat at least three meals a day. Because kittens need a lot of nutrition and energy, they must eat high-quality kitten food with special formula. This kind of high-quality cat food is characterized by taking meat as the main raw material, being very easy to digest and containing a large amount of nutrients, which can meet the special nutritional needs of young cats.
3、 Rapid maturity: 6 months to 12 months
When young cats reach the size similar to that of adult cats after a rapid growth period, their nutritional requirements are different. After six months of age, the growth rate of cats began to slow down, and the amount of activity decreased slightly; At this time, they have a large amount of food per meal, so they can reduce the number of meals per day. Although the cat looks like an adult cat at this time, it will still grow up. Many cat owners will give cats different food when they reach sexual maturity; In fact, cats like to eat high-quality dry cat food; At this time, you can add a little nutritious canned cat food to the dry cat food to meet their different nutritional needs due to their slow growth.
4、 Convert from baby cat food to cat food
When a cat reaches one year old, it needs to change into adult cat food specially prepared for adult cats; Adult cats no longer need a lot of heat energy and nutrients provided by kitten food. Remember to follow the same rule when changing pet food: gradually change within 5-7 days. During this period of diet change, special attention should be paid to monitoring the cat's weight, and the feeding amount should be adjusted according to the cat's weight at any time. Most cats will eat a certain amount of food according to the heat energy they need, so they can use the random feeding method. However, if the cat only moves indoors, because the amount of activity is not large, the free eating method may cause overweight problems; Therefore, the cat can be fed twice a day to avoid overweight.
5、 Avoid feeding people with food
Eating human food for kittens will cause unnecessary disturbing behaviors, such as their bad habits of begging for food or stealing food. Feeding home cooked food, or feeding young cats with adult cat food (especially weight-loss cat food), or adding vitamins and other nutritional supplements to the completely balanced cat food may result in nutritional imbalance.
Some foods are also toxic to cats, such as theobromine in chocolate.
Raw squid and dried squid shreds can cause liver poisoning and kidney failure in cats.
Relatively large quantities of onions and garlic are also harmful to cats.
6、 Nutrition required by kittens
Cats are absolute carnivores, and they must obtain the nutrients only contained in meat. For example, if the cat's food lacks sufficient taurine (an essential amino acid for cats, only animal meat contains it), it will cause growth retardation, blindness, heart disease, reproductive disorders and other problems. Young cats and adult cats must have plenty of fresh and clean water at any time, and they must also be taken to the veterinary hospital regularly for regular inspection to maintain physical and mental health and maintain the best condition.
